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Extinct and Extirpated Birds from Aitutaki and Atiu, Southern Cook Islands 1

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Extinct and Extirpated Birds from Aitutaki and Atiu, Southern Cook Islands 1 Pacific Science (1991), vol. 45, no. 4: 325-347 © 1991 by University of Hawaii Press. All rights reserved Extinct and Extirpated Birds from Aitutaki and Atiu, Southern Cook Islands 1 DAVID W. STEADMAN 2 ABSTRACT: Six archaeological sites up to 1000 years old on Aitutaki, Cook Islands, have yielded bones of 15 species of birds, five of which no longer occur on the island: Pterodroma rostrata (Tahiti Petrel); Sula sula (Red-footed Booby); Dendrocygna, undescribed sp. (a large, extinct whistling duck); Porzana tabuensis (Sooty Crake); and Vini kuhlii (Rimatara Lorikeet). Of these, only S. sula and P. tabuensis survive anywhere in the Cook Islands today . The nearest record of any speciesofDendrocygna is in Fiji. Aside from the aquatic speciesEgretta sacra (Pacific Reef-Heron) and Anas superciliosa (Gray Duck), the only native, resi­ dent land bird on Aitutaki today is the Society Islands Lorikeet (Vini peru viana), which may have been introduced from Tahiti. Residents of Aitutaki note that Ducula pacifica (Pacific Pigeon) and Ptilinopus rarotongensis (Cook Islands Fruit-Dove) also occurred there until the 1940sor 1950s.There is no indigenous forest on Aitutaki today. The bones from Aitutaki also include the island's first record of the fruit bat Pteropus tonganus . Limestone caves on the island of Atiu yielded the undated bones of six species of birds, three of which no longer exist there or anywhere else in the Cook Islands: Gallicolumba erythroptera (Society Islands Ground-Dove), Ducula aurorae (Society Islands Pigeon), and Vini kuhlii. Each of these species has been recovered from prehistoric sites on Mangaia as well. The limestone terrain of Atiu is mostly covered with native forest that supports populations of Ducula pacifica, Ptilinopus rarotongensis, Collocalia sawtelli (Atiu Swiftlet), and Halcyon tuta (Chattering Kingfisher). The survival of these land birds depends upon protection of Atiu's forests. IN 1987, THE ISLANDS OF Aitutaki and Atiu, in 1989by M. S. Allen as part of her archaeo­ Cook Islands (Figure 1), were surveyed for logical study of the prehistoric subsistence remains of prehistoric birds as part of a and ecology of Aitutaki. program to reconstruct the natural distribu­ The physical environment and vegetation tion of birds in eastern Polynesia, an area that of Aitutaki (Figure 2) have been reviewed by has experienced much human-caused extinc­ Stoddart (1975). Classified as an "almost­ tion. A primary goal of that survey was to atoll," Aitutaki has a land area of 18.05 km2 compare prehistoric avian assemblages from and a maximum elevation of124m. No native these islands with those recently discovered on forest exists on the main island of Aitutaki Mangaia (Steadman 1985,1987, 1989),which except for some degraded coastal forest near is 385 km from Aitutaki and 215 km from the airstrip. Most of the islets that surround Atiu. This paper presents those results and the lagoon are forested in coastal associations also analyses of collections of bird bones made that reflect varying degrees of human impact. The volcanic islets of Rapota and Moturakau support small patches of relatively undis­ I Fieldwork was funded by the Nat ional Science Foun ­ dation (grant BSR-8607535 to Steadman, grant BNS­ turbed upland forest intermingled with coast­ 8822768 to M. S. Allen) and the Wenner-Gren Founda­ al species. tion for Anthropological Research (grant 5079 to M. S. The two most important sites for under­ Allen). This is contribution number 577 of the New York standing the prehistoric distribution of birds State Museum and Science Service. Manuscript accepted on Aitutaki are the Ureia site (Bellwood 1978, 25 January 1991. 2 New York State Museum, The State Educat ion De­ Allen and Steadman 1990) and the Motu­ partment, Albany, New York 12230. rakau Rockshelter site (Allen and Schubel 325 326 PACIFIC SCIENCE, Volume 45, October 1991 C. Penrhyn Rakahanga , Pukapuka ;. Manihiki ..~ Nassau Suwarrow Palmerston (, Altutaki .:. Manuae Mitiaro Takute a . • COOK ISLANDS At;u • Mauke Rarotonga Mangaia I I I FIGURE I. The Cook Islands. 1990). The Ureia site is a stratified sequence and VII. The charcoal-based radiocarbon of calcareous sands just above sea level. It chronology ofUreia ranges from 200 ± 50 yr is about 100m inland from the modern beach B.P . (layer III) to 1040 ± 80 yr B.P. (layer VII). and is backed by a hill composed of volcanic Attempts to date the very small amounts of bedrock and associated eroded soils. In 1987, charcoal from strata below layer VII have not M. S. Allen, S. E. Schubel, and I excavated 11 been successful. m2 of sediment at Ureia to a depth of up M. S. Allen initiated the excavation of to 2 m. Bones, artifacts, and other cultural Moturakau Rockshelter site in 1987 (Allen features were concentrated in layers III, V, and Schubel 1990) and greatly expanded the Extinct and Extirpated Birds-STEADMAN 327 159"4 4 ' AIT49 -----------~4- -- -' - - "o . Maun ~apu ~ AKITUA<J ~ ANGARE~ \ EEU ~ q ' MANGERE ) ( \ PAPAU\:J\ TAVAERUA ~ ' 0 \ TAVAERU~~ MUR'T APUA -.O MRl MOTURAKA! ""~ RAPOTA L1 AITUTAKI COOK ISLANDS ","m~ / ~~~ coral reef boundary MOTUKITIU / contour interval 40 meters D; " o I FIGURE 2. Aitutaki , showing archaeological sites mentioned in the text. AITIO = Ureia site; AIT47 = Poana site; AIT48 = Mataki site; AIT49 = Aretai site; AIT50 = Hosea site; MRI = Moturakau Rockshelter site. excavations in 1989 (Allen 1991). Located on formed by wave erosion of a cindery volcanic the islet of Moturakau, 5 km from the main tuff formation. Based upon sea level studies island (Figure 2), this site is a well-protected, from Mangaia (Yonekura et al. 1988), this dry shelter that is 6.7 m wide and extends erosion probably took place during the mid­ 2.8 m inside the dripline. The rockshelter was to late Holocene high sea level stand dated at 328 PACIFIC SCIENCE, Volume 45, October 1991 2 about 4000-3400 yr B.P. A total of 16 m of scribed by Marshall (1930), Wood and Hay sediment, up to 1.8 m deep, has been exca­ (1970), and Stoddart et al. (in press). Inside vated at Moturakau, revealing a stratified se­ the makatea is a late Tertiary volcanic for­ quence of sandy layers that vary in organic mation with badly eroded soils that support content, weathered volcanic component, and villages, croplands, and fernlands with density ofcultural objects. The artifact assem­ scattered nonnative trees. By contrast, most blage features an excellent series of shell fish­ ofthe makatea on Atiu is blanketed by native hooks (Allen 1991). The 1987 excavations at forest with moderate to little human distur­ Moturakau Rockshelter yielded 14Cdates on bance (Franklin and Merlin , in press; charcoal of 540 ± 70 yr B.P. from layer V, and Franklin and Steadman, in press). 840 ± 80 yr B.P. from layer XIII, near the The extirpated birds from Atiu were base of the shelter (Allen and Schubel 1990). reported briefly by Steadman (1989), without Because the stratigraphy and chronology of details of the sites or the bones themselves. the 1989 excavations at Moturakau do not The bone-bearing sites on Atiu consist offour correlate readily with those of 1987 (M. S. caves in the makatea visited in 1987 (Figure Allen, pers . comm.) , I have not tabulated the 3). The first, Te Ana 0 Raka ("The Cave of bird bones from Moturakau stratigraphically. Raka," Raka being a man's name) , was Four other archaeological sites on Aitutaki visited on 21 September. This complex cave have yielded bones of birds. These are Aretai, with man y passages has at least eight Poana, Mataki, and Hosea (Allen 1991), all entrances along an old trench in the reefal located along the western coast of Aitutaki limestone. Flowstone formations, including (Figure 2). Like Ureia, they are composed large stalactites and stalagmites, are abundant principally of sandy sediments. Based on and well developed in Te Ana 0 Raka. present evidence, cultural occupations at Most of the floor is dry but shows much these four sites, with the possible exception of evidence (old terraces, pools , aragonite Poana, date to less than 1000 yr B.P . nodules) ofpast water flow. Mana et al. (1984) The vertebrate assemblages from each of provided a photograph of one of the hum an the Aitutaki sites are dominated by fish bones burials in Te Ana 0 Raka. We noted at least (Allen 1991). Sea turtles (Cheloniidae) and 10 human burials in this cave, including lizards (Gekkonidae, Scincidae) are repre­ one in a dugout canoe. sented at most sites, while the mammals from The second cave, Ana Takitaki, was visited Ureia include rat (Rattus exulans), dog (Canis on 22 September. Like Te Ana 0 Raka, Ana familiarisi, pig (Sus serofa), human (Homo Takitaki has numerous entrances and pas­ sapiens), and porpoise (Delphinidae), most of sages. This cave was described by Marshall which occur at the other sites as well. (1930: 67), who called it "Taketake," a vari­ The Hosea site yielded a molar (TPl, zone ant spelling still sometimes used today. We £?) and wing phalanx (TP2) of Pteropus found no human burials in Ana Takitaki. tonganus (Tongan Fruit-Bat, or Flying Fox), The aragonite nodules on the floor of Ana which has not been recorded previously from Takitaki, as in Te Ana 0 Raka, suggest a Aitutaki. In the Cook Islands today, P. geochemical environment well suited for min­ tonganus is known only from Rarotonga and eralization of bones. Ana Takitaki is the type Mangaia, where it reaches the eastern limit of locality and primary roosting and nesting the species and the entire family (Krzanowski site of the Atiu Swiftlet (Colloealia sawtelli ). 1977, Wodzicki and Felten 1981 , Steadman The word takitaki (or take take) is an onoma­ and Kirch 1990). topoetic Atiuan rendering of the sound made Atiu has a land area of 26.93 km 2 and a by the swiftlets as they echolocate in the maximum elevation of 72 m.
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